The use of fillers with resins is well known to reduce the use of the amount of resin, particularly thermoplastic resin, and to control mechanical properties of the resulting composition. Many resins are processed through injection molding machines, vacuum molding machines, roto molding machines, extrusion machines and the other similar machines. Typically the resin material is heated and mechanically processed in some way to form a desired structure that must be cooled or cool in some way to attain the desired mechanical characteristics for the desired product. Throughput or speed of production is an important issue that is addressed in selecting materials and machines for manufacturing a wide variety of thermoplastic materials.
Fly ash and cinders are by-products of the oxidation (e.g., combustion) of hydrocarbon fuels like coal. For example, power plants for generating electricity are known to generate substantial quantities of fly ash and cinders every day as they burn fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. Fly ash typically is composed of or includes some residual hydrocarbon that has not combusted along with unburned residue of materials that had been part of the fuel before it was burned. That is, the fly ash and cinders are the by-product, residue or result of a previous industrial process and thus can be referred to as a “post industrial” material which in this case is inorganic and, as discussed hereinafter, is useful as a filler. Processes and products that use a post industrial material are desired as one is, in effect, recycling.
The fly ash is so light or buoyant that it becomes entrained with the exhaust gases and moves up or “flies” up or out of the exhaust structure (e.g., a chimney). Typically, the fly ash is collected from the exhaust structure and stored, stockpiled and/or taken to suitable disposal sites. Some cinders are similarly quite light and small so they can be entrained with the fly ash. Some cinders can be of a larger size which typically fall to the bottom of a combustion structure and/or an exhaust structure. The fly ash and the cinders each can be separated into specific particle sizes.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,879,939 (Prince, et al.) (hereinafter the “'939 Patent”), which is incorporated by reference as if fully rewritten herein, discloses use of fly ash and cinders as a filler in the manufacture of plastics. To create suitable fly ash and cinder material from different sources, they can be processed to attain a desired particle size distribution (PSD) as suggested in U.S. Patent Publication US 2011/0071252 published on Mar. 24, 2011, (herein the '252 Application) the disclosure of which is incorporated by this reference. The PSD and cinder content can be controlled to vary processing parameters and the physical properties of a physical product made from selected resins which include thermoplastics. Inorganic fillers can also be processed as set forth in United States Patent Application for a METHOD TO HEURISTICALLY CONTROL FORMATION AND PROPERTIES OF A COMPOSITION, Ser. No. 61/491,091 filed May 27, 2011 (the “'091 Application”).
The term “fractional melt” applies to one or more resins and other chemicals that have a melt flow index than is a fraction or less than 1.0. The melt flow index (“MFI”) is a measure of the flow of a melt of a thermoplastic. Specifically it is the mass of the polymer flowing in ten minutes through a capillary of a specific diameter and length as outlined in standard ASTM D 1238 promulgated by the American Society for Testing and Materials.
A fractional melt having a weight percent from about 5% to 10% of a thermoplastic is not usually suitable for injection molding or processes that involve the flowability comparable to injection molding. Loading percentages higher than 5% to 10% weight percent can be achieved but only when processed at higher than normal processing temperatures of over 450° F. (232° C.) for polyolefins and at very high internal injection pressures as well. These higher than normal temperatures and pressures for fractional melt resins are known to cause degradation of the physical properties of the resulting products.
A “low melt” resin means a resin that has a melt flow index of about 3 or less and greater than 1 that functions comparably to a fractional melt resin.
For purposes of this invention, a “low index” resin may be “low melt” resin and/or a “fractional melt”.
Products formed that include fractional melts and low melt resins with improved or acceptable physical properties and that require less energy to produce are not known.